TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 5 www.UniversityStar.com
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
NEWS: STUDENT DEBT SEE PAGE 2
LIFE AND ARTS: RISE AGAINST HUNGER SEE PAGE 3
OPINIONS: FOOD INSECURITY
SPORTS: FOOTBALL CAPTAINS
SEE PAGE 5
SEE PAGE 7
How Rainbow Night became SMTX Pride
COMMUNITY
By Marisa Nunez Life and Arts Editor
Live music, bright outfits and community festivities will take over San Marcos this weekend as locals and residents prepare to celebrate the eighth annual SMTX Pride on Sept. 9 and 10. Before there was SMTX Pride, there was Rainbow Night, an LGBTQ+ friendly event that consisted of a small group of San Marcos LGBTQ+ members who got together at local bars. Rainbow Night's origin story began when Sylvia Sandoval, along with a couple of her family members and friends, was kicked out of a bar for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She realized a safe space for LGBTQ+ members did not exist in San Marcos and so she set out on a mission to give people a place to celebrate who they
were without judgment or being kicked out. Rainbow Night consisted of Sandoval and her friends going bar to bar to celebrate pride by wearing rainbows and hosting drag shows. Their first Rainbow Night was at Gold Crown Billiards, a bar that has since been shut down. Although they always got the bar's permission to host Rainbow Night, she said they got kicked out a few times, followed to their cars and were shunned by others in the bar. "We got boycotted and we got kicked out of a few bars. It wasn't an easy task, so when Stonewall finally surfaced, I figured that the journey was over. We finally got what we needed. We needed something that there was for the community and I figured that was it that," Sandoval said. "Then I was asked to start to do a march which was the next step, so we started the march for Pride."
San Marcos citizens at the first SMTX Pride in 2014. PHOTO COURTSEY OF RITA ALLEE
SEE COMMUNITY PAGE 3 OPPORTUNITY
Student takes a drive on the super speedway, internship of a lifetime By Nichaela Shaheen News Editor Racing through life one flag at a time, Trey Gomez always had a passion for the fast lane. When selected as an intern for NASCAR’s Diversity Internship Program, he buckled up and enjoyed the ride all the way to Daytona Beach, Florida, for a lifetime opportunity. Gomez, an English senior, was introduced to the world of racing at the early age of four by watching races with his father and since has been a lifelong fan of NASCAR. “I've been a lifelong fan of the sport like ever since I could walk basically,” Gomez said. “It's always been something that I make time for on Sundays or Saturday nights or whenever there's a race is on.” It was during Thanksgiving break this past fall that he
decided to go out on a limb and look for a possible future with the organization. “I just got bored after finishing an assignment and I got curious, just randomly curious, like ‘what jobs are there in NASCAR?’” Gomez said. “Because up to that point, I never saw working in this space as something real achievable." After a search on Google, he had no idea the application process would be as extensive as it was, but after a grueling six months of interviews and essays, Gomez answered a phone call on his commute to school that would change his summer plans. “I was walking uphill and then I randomly get a phone call from Daytona Beach, Florida. I'm like ‘crap like this is it and it's from Diversity and Inclusion. They're like ‘hey, Trey, happy to announce we got a spot open for you in the Daytona offices. Congratulations.' I was like super elated. Not only did it, change my day, it changed the course of my summer.” Gomez said.
SEE OPPORTUNITY PAGE 2
Trey Gomez, an English senior, was selected for the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program this past summer. PHOTO COURTSEY OF TREY GOMEZ